For nearly a hundred years, the Palkachupa Cotinga was thought to have died out, and its rediscovery in 2000 has galvanised conservation efforts to save the species.

The bird is endemic to the Andean Cerrado woodland ecosystem in north western Bolivia where its population is estimated at fewer than 600 individuals.

The deforestation and fragmentation of the Andean Cerrado, due mainly to the expansion of agriculture and cattle ranching, is proving disastrous for the Palkachupa Cotinga.

Less than 20 per cent of the Andean Cerrado woodland ecosystem now remains, and while habitat clearance continues, time is running out.

However, with swift action to purchase land to create a Palkachupa Cotinga reserve, this precious species may yet survive.

The projects that win the most votes will receive funding of €30,000 euros from EOCA. This funding will enable Asociación Armonía to expand its existing 130 acre Andean Cerrado reserve by a further 158 acres, to reforest degraded areas, and to involve schools and members of the local community in tree planting and other conservation activities.

World Land Trust is calling on its supporters to vote for the Palkachupa Cotinga!

The Palkachupa Cotinga project is nominated in the Alpine category of EOCA's project vote.

Great, thanks for voting. Let's hope we secure the much needed funding from the European Outdoor Conservation Group. If we are unsuccessful we will look to other funding sources. As you say, the Palkachupa Cotinga is one of Bolivia's rarest birds. Its habitat is being lost at an enormous rate and we must act now.

Simon Barnes' article certainly stimulated a lot of people, and also made many more aware of the World Land Trust's work in general. There's a lot going on at present. From Leopard corridors in Armenia (we are meeting with a group of community leaders in a couple of weeks time), to the Emerald green Corridor of Misiones, Argentina, where yesterday the indigenous communities met with the biodiversity specialists to discuss moving forward with a management plan. In Mexico a destructive bark beetle is playing havoc with the forests, but in India, there have been exciting sightings of tigers. In a generally depressing world, it does feel as if we are achieving something. And at relatively low cost.